Microsoft announced today that its discontinuing support for Facebook Chat and Google Chat in Outlook.com and pushing its users to start using Skype instead.

The reason for removing Google Chat is because Google is discontinuing the XMPP chat protocol on its platforms.

Microsoft does say that “This update will not impact the connection to your Facebook and/or Google accounts, which means your People page will stay updated with the latest contact information from the services you’ve connected.”

Microsoft isn’t giving a reason why Facebook chat is being killed, but it appears that Facebook is ending support for the XMPP protocol as well.

Microsoft sent an email to Outlook.com users today. If you didn’t happen to see it during your busy day, here’s a copy of what it says: